V5.00. (ProwlerPRL-1R n)CCA@@MM 3 3 3 3 1 3Jx  A  Pontiac 1008 Hesperus-B3M8 Hesperus-B3M8  AAAAAAAAAA  8 xgThe PRL-1R Prowler came into existance as the Coventry Defense Conglomorate's non-conforming tender to the Star League Defense Force contract eventually won by Orguss Industries UM-R60 Urbanmech. While the SLDF was pleased with the PRL-1R's performance during trials it was significantly more expensive than the UM-R60 and as cost was one of the major factors in the selection criteria, the UM-R60 eventually won out. Coventry Defense believed they could find a market for the PRL-1R however and embarked on a production run of 750 machines. While the SLDF did not purchase any, the fledgling militaries of the Great Houses soon bought up these original mechs, especially in the aftermath of the Civil War and Kerensky's Exodus when the various factions were scrambling to fill the resulting power vacuum.  The Prowler is a specialised mech, designed first and foremost for the defense of urban areas against light to medium class Battlemechs. Mounting a Pontiac Class 20 Autocannon, the skilled Prowler pilot is capable of quickly bringing down light & smaller medium 'mechs with an accurate salvo of fire before the enemy can respond, given sufficient cover to stalk and/or ambush its prey. A jump capacity of 90 metres offsets its low speed in an urban environment, allowing the Prowler to jump to and from cover and so avoid ranged combat or keep up with is prey. With two tons of ammunition, the pilot cannot waste shots but is no worse off than a Hunchback or even an Atlas in this regard. Secondary armament comprises two Hesperus-B3M Medium lasers, giving the pilot something to fire during the autocannon's lengthy reloading cycle or for speculative fire not worthy of precious autocannon ammunition. What the Prowler cannot do is be caught in the open unsupported as its low maximum speed of 54 kmh and short range armament renders it extremely vulnerable and unable to respond to any sort of ranged fire. A total of 7.5 tons of armor provides adequate protection for its weight class but does not allow the Prowler to sustain prolonged fire fights against other medium mechs, something some pilots allow themselves to be embroiled in due to overconfidence bred by the presence of the infamous Pontiac 100 'cannon. ( Similarly to its smaller rival Urbanmech, the Prowler was initially deployed in the defense of factory districts, starports and other urban targets by the House militaries able to aquire them. Usually operating in conjunction with with mechs with longer ranged weapons such as Enforcers and Centurions the Prowlers performed well, initially at least. As the destruction wrought by the Succession Wars began to be felt however, the Prowler was forced into roles not suited to it simply because there were few mechs available to choose from. Inevitably the Prowler suffered serious losses when used in the assault role, House Liao losing nearly all their twenty examples when they were engaged by a company of Davion Valkyries while crossing a wheat farm in a periphery skrimish in 2844. More recently, in 3011 a Prowler was involved in the defense of Sevren against a Kurita offensive. Piloted by Pvt Fett Carmicheal of the planetary militia, the Prowler and its rookie mechwarrior were on picket duty in the ruins of a burnt out department store awaiting the Kurita onslaught. Powered down amongst the shadows of the building shell Carmicheal observed a Kurita DRG-1N Dragon approaching his position out of the smoke and gloom of the early evening. Allowing the Dragon to get within approximately 100m Carmicheal powered up the Prowlers reactor and levelled the autocannon sights on the enemy mech and sent an encrypted transmission back to HQ. As soon as the weapon came on line Carmicheal opened fire but in the darkness and his exitement the sights drifted across the Dragon, the stream of depleted uranium shells smashing into the 'Combine mechs right arm and building behind, touching off an internal gas main and lighting up the night sky with the resulting explosion. Startled and off balance, the Dragon stumbled and tried to return fire but missed wide with its AC and LRMs which were by now well under minimum range for accurate targeting. As the Dragon regained its footing and with the auto cannon still reloading Carmicheal leaned his mech forward and engaged the jump jets. The Prowler lurched into the air and crashed into the upper torso of the Dragon, knocking it back of its feet and throught the wall of the burning building behind before landing on top of the Kurita mech. Fortunately the Prowler was able to regain its feet among the debris and jumped clear of the flailing Dragon, firing another salvo of autocannon while airborne which shredded the already damaged right arm and right torso. Seconds later the burning building was finally collapsed as the fires touched off the Dragons AC magazine. Carmicheal became something of a planetary celebrity on Sevren as the engagement was captured by his gun camera and several nearby security cameras and he remains easily the most famous exponent of the Prowler, despite his somewhat erratic markmanship.The only (relatively) common variant is the PRL-2R which replaces the AC20 with a Defiance Killer AC10, a third medium laser and a heat sink. Originally intended to work in conjunction with PRL-1Rs in order to compensate for their lack of a ranged weapon, the PRL-2Rs usually ended up serving in fire support lances to replace battle casualties such as Rifleman and Centurions, though with only mediocre results.  The lion's share of the original Prowler production run was aquired by the Lyran Commonwealth, which is not suprising given that production was soley undertaken on Hesperus II. A few were purchased by each of the other Houses, though the majority of these ended up with House Davion. In the ensuing centuries of the Succesion Wars many Prowlers have been sold or captured and so may be found just about anywhere in the Inner Sphere, though most commonly in Steiner space. While the Prowler is not an everyday sight on the battlefield it is sigificantly more common than the better known Goliath or Clint for example.  [ none ]Coventry Defense Conglomerate Hesperus IIGMLexington LimitedCoventry Metal WorksTharHes Crystal Flower RG-2TharHes Star Shark Rawlings 52